Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A typical image forming apparatus employing an electrophotographic method, such as a copier and a printer, includes a typical fixing device that fixes a toner image on a recording medium, such as a paper sheet.
For example, there is known a fixing device including a fixing belt, a pressure member, and a pressing member. The pressure member is brought into pressure contact with a fixing belt to form a fixing nip. The pressing member presses the fixing belt toward the pressure-member side. The above-described pressing member includes a plane surface portion and a curved surface portion. The plane surface portion extends along a conveyance direction of a recording medium. The curved surface portion is located in a downstream side of the plane surface portion in the conveyance direction of the recording medium.